Behavioral Methods

Question 1

General Principles

Answer 1

Used to screen for new drugs
Document the pharmacologic profile of the drug
Characterize the effective dose range relative to side effect profile
Separate the acute vs chronic effects of the drug

Question 2

Operant Conditioning

Answer 2

Uses consequences to affect behavior
Modifies voluntary behavior
Differs from Pavlov, in that Pavlov deals with behaviors that change with the antecedent
Positive Reinforcement- Reward to encourage behavior
Negative Reinforcement- Remove punishment to increase behavior
Positive Punishment- add punishment to decrease behavior
Negative Punishment- Remove reward to decrease behavior

Question 3

Avoidance Learning

Answer 3

When a behavior results in the cessation of an aversive stimulus

Question 4

Extinction

Answer 4

When a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced, its frequency decreases

Question 5

Non-Contingent Behavior

Answer 5

Decreases a behavior by reinforcing an alternate more desired behavior instead

Question 6

Drug Discrimination

Answer 6

Technique used to determine the degree to which a novel drug is similar to a standard drug
Not unlike human to identify drug class after taking drug

Question 7

Conditioned Place Preference

Answer 7

Technique similar to drug discrimination, used to determine the degree to which a novel drug is similar to a standard
Animals are monitored for which box arm they enter

Question 8

Self Administration

Answer 8

Gold Standard
Animals self administer the same drugs as humans
Drugs of abuse enhance brain stimulation reward or lower threshold for reward
Drugs of abuse enhance neuronal activity and/or neurotransmitters in reward relevant brain circuits

Question 9

Prep Animals for Self Administration

Answer 9

Train animals to press lever for food pellets
Animals prepared with IV catheter
Recover from surgery
Change session to deliver a reinforcing dose of a drug for each lever press
Gradually increase the number of lever presses

Question 10

Progressive Ratio

Answer 10

Self administration paradigm to see how many lever presses the animal would do for a reinforcer

Question 11

Break Point

Answer 11

The number of lever presses an animal is willing to do for a single reinforcer

Question 12

Conflict

Answer 12

Used to detect antianxiety within a drug
Pairs a reinforcer with a punisher in the same session
Approach avoidance situations cause anxiety

Question 13

Standardized Questionnaires

Answer 13

Profile of Mood States (POMS)
Used to identify and assess transient and fluctuating affective mood states
65 items, self reported, a brief version contains only 30 items
Can be administered in 5-10 minutes

Question 14

Subjective Mood Assessments

Answer 14

Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)- measurement instrument that allows subject to rate mood or perception that is not easily measurable by other means

Question 15

Body Sway

Answer 15

Measures a participant’s ability to stay upright and steady
Measures proprioception and balance
Useful in quantifying side effects of medications

Question 16

Divided Attention

Answer 16

Measures a participant’s ability to divide cognitive resource to complete several tasks simultaneously
Usually involves same sensory modality

Question 17

Wrist Actigraphy

Answer 17

Measures wake/rest activity

Some units allow the participant to enter a marker that has a predefined meaning

Question 18

Delayed Discounting

Answer 18

Technique that asses a participant’s ability to weigh the value of a given reinforcer now, with a reinforcer of larger value given sometime later
Individuals with substance abuse problems have lowered abilities of delayed discounting

Question 19

Choice Experimental

Answer 19

Asking participants how much they would pay for a sample drug they just ingested